CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the twenty-five recipients of its annual fellowship program. Known as the ‘Genius’ Grants, the awards are given to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.” Each fellow will receive an unrestricted grant of $625,000, which will be distributed over the course of five years.

Among this year’s cohort are composer and conductor Matthew Aucoin, artist and curator Julie Ault, painter Titus Kaphar, choreographer and performer Okwui Okpokwasili, and filmmaker and performance artist Wu Tsang. They have been recognized for pushing the boundaries of their art forms, challenging the Western art canon, making visible the interior lives of women, and bringing historically marginalized histories to light.

“Working in diverse fields, from the arts and sciences to public health and civil liberties, these twenty-five MacArthur Fellows are solving long-standing scientific and mathematical problems, pushing art forms into new and emerging territories, and addressing the urgent needs of under-resourced communities,” Cecilia Conrad, managing director of the MacArthur Fellows Program said in a statement. “Their exceptional creativity inspires hope in us all.”